Golden State Warriors rout Phoenix Suns

OAKLAND -- Warriors coach Mark Jackson has four children, so he knows exactly what Stephen Curry is up to.

"Very comical how he'll ignore me," Jackson said. "Turn his back to me. Act like he didn't see me. Give me that look that my kids give me when they want a special toy for Christmas."

The gift turned out to be for Jackson. Curry, who missed the last two games with a sprained right ankle, had 29 points and eight assists as the Warriors routed the Phoenix Suns 113-93 on Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

Golden State (30-17) has won four straight and is a season-best 13 games over .500. The franchise hasn't reached 30 wins this early in the season since Jan. 16, 1976, when the defending champions improved to 30-9.

The Warriors now head on a four-games-in-five-nights trip having done what they were supposed to do -- beat the losing teams on their schedule. All of Golden State's last four wins have come against teams well below .500.

"This is a good feeling to be right in the thick of that race for the fourth (playoff) spot," Curry said. "We're watching that, and we're taking it game-by-game."

The Warriors dominated the second half to pull away from the Suns (16-32), scoring 65 points on 54.5 percent shooting. On the other end of the court, they held Phoenix to 41 points on 36.6 percent shooting.

Curry led the second-half surge, knocking down four 3-pointers and scoring 19 points. His journey to the court began early Saturday, when he started lobbying Jackson to let him play.

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Curry acknowledged he couldn't have played in Thursday's win over Dallas but said the﻿ pain had subsided by Saturday morning. He took part in shoot-around and made it through his pregame warm-ups.

He said pain wasn't the issue, just swelling and range of motion. He received treatment for that all day and pulled out all the stops to convince Jackson -- usually conservative about his injured players -- to give him the green light.

"This is the third time this season we've had this little back-and-forth," Curry said, "about how I feel versus what the trainers are saying (was) the right time to come back. I put up a good fight today. ... I was 0 for 2."

Jackson was certainly glad he conceded when Curry scored 11 points in the third quarter to give the Warriors control of a previously close game.

The Warriors trailed 58-48 after a three-point play by Suns guard Goran Dragic early in the third but ripped off an 11-0 run to take the lead.

Rookie Harrison Barnes, who tied his season-high with 21 points, got it started with a three-point play on a layup. Curry capped the run with a three-point play on a floater to give the Warriors a 59-58 advantage.

The Suns' ensuing timeout only temporarily stopped the bleeding. With five minutes left in the third, the game was tied at 64. Golden State then put its foot on the gas.

Curry and Barnes hit back-to-back runners. Two minutes later, Curry pushed the lead to 76-68 with consecutive 3-pointers. David Lee (16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists) put the Warriors ahead 81-70 with 1:04 left when his layup dropped in and he got the foul, capping a 17-6 run.

Golden State led 81-74 at the end of the third quarter, then put the game away with a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter. First Curry hit a 3-pointer, then Barnes dropped in a driving hook. Curry then set up a fast-break layup for Jarrett Jack, followed by a driving scoop by Barnes.

In just over two minutes, the Warriors held Phoenix to 0-for-4 shooting with a turnover and pushed the lead to 90-74.

"Those guards are snipers," Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter said. "If you make any mistake defensively, then they're going to make you pay. They made us pay."

But before Curry could lead the Warriors to victory over the Suns, he had to score a win over Jackson.

He lobbied. He pouted. He begged.

"I've got to tell you the truth: It works," Jackson said. "There's a soft spot."

The Warriors posted a season-high 34 assists. With the Andrew Bogut in the lineup, they are a much better passing team. When healthy, they have three capable passers in the starting lineup and Jack coming off the bench.

Golden State entered Saturday's game seventh in the league with 22.9 assists per game.

You can probably expect that to go up as Bogut gets more ingrained into the offense.

The Warriors notched their 13th consecutive sellout Saturday. That's their longest streak in 15 years. Thursday's game against the Dallas Mavericks tied the previous high at Oracle, established when the Warriors sold out the last 12 home games of the 2007-08 season.